Badass Entries

Saturday, August 26, 2006

So I got a call on Monday evening, from Suzy Pendergrast (Caitie's mom and in charge of booking acts for the State Fair), asking if I wanted to work as a stagehand Tuesday through Thursday with Ted Nugent's show. Next then I knew, I'm employed the entire Fair, I'm a sound tech for two gypsy chicks, watching security drag drunken brawler after brawler out of a concert towards cops, moving with the Stage Manager to disrupt a drunk running on stage and helping Ted Nugent's crew tear down a show while dozens of fans clamor for Uncle Teddy.

Yea, it was crazy. Basically, I'm now a stage hand for the main stage where every concert is. I help every concert setup before the shows and tear down after the shows. Then the Entertainment Cooradinater heard I was a sound tech in a previous life and had me run a show that involved two clown gypsy-like females. I guess they liked how I did it, because they asked me to run all their shows. So now I run over there every few hours and do a simple play n' fade job. It's pretty boring but the gals think I'm doing some kind of incredible task. Whatever.

I also was a hand during the Ted concert and wow. That was a show. The first hour was pretty cool, The Nuge was jamming onstage while everyone milled around getting beers. Then it got interesting. As the evening wore on and people were on their fifth or thirtieth beers, they got rowdy. Really, really rowdy. I should have known it got bad when six cops stood outside the concert ready to handle anyone ejected by security.

Well, it wasn't too long before the first guy tried running on stage. He was tackled by security and dragged out. Then it got worse. More and more people started fighting or trying to run onstage. Security was way over-taxed, so the Stage Manager and I stood near the stage, ready to bring guys down who charged onstage. Man, I wanted to wade into the pile of drunks and security guys. It was against every instinct to stand there and do nothing.

Then a guy ran onstage, grabbed Ted's hand in a quick shake and run off. He ran right into the Stage Manager, in front of me, who tackled him. I was close behind in case the guy ran off again and loving it. It was so awesome. I love that stuff. Afterwards, the Stage Manager (Scott) and the Entertainment guy (Tom) said they could tell I was "chomping at the bits" to wade in there and that "Caleb needs to be a bouncer, he's bigger then all the guys on security".

After the show, Tom had me check the fences for people climbing over while they loaded up Ted. We broke the stage down, constantly being asked by fans if we could "get Ted to sign this shirt" or whatever other piece of crap they thrusted at us. Once we packed everything else up, got Ted's techies heading towards their hotel and helped the house sound crew finish the stage tear-down, Scott gave all us stagehands free Ted shirts. He's a pretty cool guy.

This job is pretty awesome, for I have passes to go anywhere in the Fair. I get to go all the concerts free of charge (although I'm not a big fan of Josh Gracin or Jays of Clays, but the War concert should be cool) and be backstage whenever I want. Still, I wish I managed to get a security job at the Sluicebox or concert security.

I also went hiking in the pouring rain for two days over the Johnson Pass and it was awesome. I loved it. I'm a wilderness buff and that kind of stuff I just eat up. Here's a few shots of the Awesomeness doing his awesome things.

Well, that's my life, as awesome as it is. Other random stuff happened, like my birthday, which was also awesome. Emily gave me an awesome book, the Alphabet of Manliness, and I got the cool traditional birthday cookies from the Morrisons. Also netted Wall Street Journal subscription, which is a totally badass paper that should be read at all times.

Speaking of reading, I'm reading a stack of books currently. I'll get the titles up in a bit but the list includes two World War II books, two books on economics, a fiction thriller and three on the Civil War. In addition to all this, I want to add American Gods to my must-read list.

College classes start Monday! Expectations!

- Maddog

ill sh-- a wolf from my ass

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I return to you now, at the turn of the tide. After a long journey filled with lumber, construction, rivers, canoes, birthdays and plenty of Wall Street Journals, I have returned to fulfill my rightful place amongst the people, as their king. You may approach the throne.

Well, some things to report. First off, we have completed the task of constructing a garage. Now all my dad needs to do is finishing Tyvek-ing it, put the siding and shingles on then focus on interior work. A few photos were snapped in the midst of our labors.

I am the one who is beautiful. So the garage was created and erected (tee-hee) in a grand fashion and everyone was happy. Directly afterwards, Pops, his Pops and I loaded canoes and embarked on a four-day trip down the Little Sue River. Fish were caught and eaten (very delicious) and rain was endured (very bad). We had a blast, returning with fish and stories.

After that I plunged into my summer class, 3d Animation, with most vigor. In three days I've propelled myself four weeks ahead of the material and soon I shall be finished. It's most fun and I highly recommend viewing my beautiful movies. I shall present links with this very objective in mind in a later post.

I must cut now my communications. A trip is needed and I shall undertake it. When I return, expect continuity.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Matt and I finished the road trip to Seward. It was pretty awesome, both the trip and watching the Mount Marathon Race. Incredible how those guys would go from 0 to 3,000 feet and back again in around 45 minutes. Just amazing. I took a bunch of pictures, you can find them by clicking on the picture to go to my Flickr account, they are all contained there. This picture is my favorite, we stopped at a pretty cool place and shot some photos.

Overall, we had a blast. The race was a lot of fun to watch. We got in around 11 at night in Seward, so we also got to watch some fireworks and grill hotdogs on the tailgate of my truck for some dinner. I cooked flapjacks in the morning and we watched the local town parade. I also found out that the Alaska State Defense Force, who has recently contacted me due to paperwork problems, has an awesome, awesome boat. I really hope I get assigned on that thing after training.

Afterward, we booked out of town, stopping at a restaurant on the way back. I had the best salad ever. Man, that thing kicked butt. After Matt hit on the waitress, we plugged out there and I drove us all home. We also watched some Venture Bros.

That show totally rocks as well. More on it later. Well, I'm out. Catch this bronze god later.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Have you noticed I start most of my writings with that word?
I like the word, for it conveys much. Indeed, those two letters create an aura
of expectation and anxiety. It leads one to believe that an essay of explanation
is forthcoming or it may cause one to believe that an action from oneself is
expected. Regardless, it is a word that brings to mind a badass. As I’m in the business
of being a badass, it is thus a word I use.

I went camping a few days ago. The trip needs proper
explaining, as it was a badass trip. Palmer, Cody L. and Cody W. all wanted to go
on some form of camping trip, so we humm-and-hawwed about it until we decided
on Moose Range,
up near Jonesville road. Cody L. (henceforth called Cody), Palmer and I loaded
my truck; put my dog in the back and all squeezed inside the cab. About an hour
later, we were at an awesome campsite. It overlooked the entire valley, absolutely
beautiful. The three of us explored the entire mountain after setting up camp
and fired off the .22 a bit before Cody W. (henceforth Wingert) arrived. My truck peformed wonderfully now that it is fixed. We could go everywhere, coupled with my superior badass driving skills that allowed us to scale sheer cliffs. It was badass.

We all piled into Wingert’s Jeep and did more mobbin’ on the
trails. It was awesome, that Jeep could go anywhere. We returned back, sat at
the campfire forever talking about poop and girls and went to sleep. In the
morning, I practiced a bit of my badass Dutch oven cooking wizardry and fixed
some rockin’ Breakfast Pizza. We ate,
packed up and zipped home. All in all, it was hella cool. We’re planning to do another,
longer trip up further away somewhere, probably a 3-day trip at Gunsight Mountain or something.

Anyways, I’m back now and I’ve got a few more posts coming
(Did you know Kent Hovind, aka Doc Dino, is a fraud?) so staayyy tuned. And I’m
wrestling with my summer classes. I’ve decided that I need to date a Mathematics
Major. Someone waaayy smarter then me to do my homework. It’s a brilliant plan,
I’d get brains to do my work (and looks too) while they’d get my badassness. It’s
a bit one-sided, so I figure she’d have to cook for me too.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Yesterday was the first real good workout of my truck in the category of tailgate party. I arrived at 11:00 at a lake where numerous personages where gathering for a dunking involving me and two other guys from my classes. The water was freezing but ultimately tolerable. We swam for awhile in our clothes, evident in these pictorial shots. After climbing out of the Lake, I learned of a party going down at some chicks house. Palmer, Meg and I then drove over to Wendy's in my truck to eat lunch with about a dozen students we knew.

Meg's boyfriend (Cody) should up soon after, and we all went to this retarded park until the party started. We sat in the back of my truck, listening to some music and drinking Energy drinks. Finally, the time for the party rolled around and we piled into our three cars to drive to the girl's house. We promptly got lost as Palmer kept telling us to turn left or right until he finally said "I have no idea where we are". Luckily, we followed a big dumptruck that led us to society once more.

When we got to the house where the party was at, we promptly resorted to cramming on the tailgate when I parked the truck close to a campfire and throwing cans into the fire. Pizza and frizbees, what else does a good party need? I must say, I was in quite a bit of pain because I sprained my ankle ealier at a playground where we were goofing around. My ankle was all swollen up and still is. Hurts a bit to walk. It was especially fun to shift gears when pushing in clutch. It was a good time, primarily when
Palmer got a major buzz from downing three energy drinks and bunch of other crap. He was bouncing all around.

I also went to Court today for my ticket trail. About two dozen defendants were present with contested tickets. The judge offered a four-hour driving course that'd waive all the fees and fines, so I jumped on that. I guess Officer Heinbaugh, the cop who nabbed me, is a bit of a butt or something, so I'm glad I took the course. I gotta do it by September and only have to pay $10 instead of $150. A bit of good news at least.

Saturday there is some kind of car sound-off and basketball tournament at a park that a bunch of us are going to. Then, next Sunday is my Church's picnic. I'm trying to get a bunch of the duders to go and play some volleyball. This week I'll probably be working on some paperwork and get my summer classes started.

Check out this cool photo Lauren took using my Digital Rebel XT and I modified using Photoshop:

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

My first entry into the art festival on campus. This photo was taken during my Valdez trip. I performed some slight tweaking in Photoshop.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love this photo a lot. When Sarah and I were four-wheeling, we found this scene down a cliff. I climbed down and shot several photos. The ribcage looks like it is the remains of someone who fell out of that chair, hence the title. I love the line that the dishwasher, ribcage and chair makes and how it parallels the line of the tree trunk.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Before anything else, Happy Birthday to my two peeps, Matt-Hue and Chad The Man. It happened Friday. The Aging. Of the Insane. Now, onto normalcy.

Today marked the end of the massive production. I ran all the technical stuff for it and thankfully it has finished. Now, one more day of classes and I'm home free. I'll post more but I've been simply swamped with stuff. To hold you over, here's a photo from today. Sarah joined me the last showing of the play and we snapped some pics. Sarah's the most awesomest thing ever. Later my dawgs.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

This is my 100th Post on this blog. To celebrate, I took Sarah to the Nutcracker Ballet in Anchorage. It was most awesome. Most people wouldn't know it (because of my badassness) but I'm a huge lover of the arts. Drama, orchestras, ballet, galleries, museums, I do 'em all. And the Nutcracker Suite is one of my favorite pieces.

See, this is a sign of a major badass. A badass can look someone square in the eye and say "The Dance of the Sugarplum Faeries is one of my favorite musical pieces, right next to AC/DC and APC," while wearing a headscarf and bling and totally know that he is still, in fact, a badass. I am not one of these wussy dudes who like the Arts. I could go straight from an awesome match at The Octagon to a great Shakespeare play.

Anyways, I took Sarah and had a most enjoyable evening. Chinese food came afterwords. The Party of Saturday was also hardcore to the extreme. Sarah brought along her projector and GameCube and we played a great agenda of Double Dash, Halo 2, SuperSmash Brothers and Soul Caliber all night long. In addition, Sarah and I wolfed down a helping of Rush Hour 2 and Shanghai Noon. A most successful endeavor, I wager. It was good to see Chad "Abstract" Meyer again, after his successful journeys of College Kegger, Sorority Panty Raids and massive Frat Parties. To close off this delightful report of wonderfulness, I present more photos. And with that, I am off.

Goodnight World,- Maddogdon't break it up let em fightFirst Picture: First up is the irresistibly adorable Sarah, my little brown eyes. Second is yours truly, the Original Badass, Maddog. Behind me is the Tallest Tower of Terror, Zack. Third is Homie Number Uno, Matt-Hue. Forth is the Craziest Man Alive and Former Gang Member Chad.

Second Picture: Another shot, I really like this one. We didn't have anyone that knew how to operate my highly advance camera so not many pics turned out well (white balance/lighting off). Thus, this is my crew. And boy, do we know how to roll.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I've got to get out of this habit of making these short little posts. Too tired every night to think of something intelligent to say. I'll recap my day quickly then fall asleep exhausted.

After classes, I went straight over and took some shots of Sarah modeling a jacket. This was a very good use of my time, I believe. Afterwards, we had some dinner at her house and watched Disc 2 of Season 3 of Aquateen Hungerforce with Emily and my little bro, who was tagging along. Sarah's really photogenic, I submit proof. And with that, I'm off to bed. Night world!